CHAPTER 11: FUNGI AND PROTISTS

OBJECTIVE: Investigate the diversity of living organisms and how they can be compared scientifically.

SECTION 1 Vocabulary: PROTISTS

* PROTIST- an organism that belongs to the kingdom Protista* HETEROTROPH- an organism that gets food from eating other organisms or their byproducts and that cannot make inorganic materials.* PARASITE- an organism that feeds on an organism of another species and that usually harms the host; the host never benefits the presents of a parasite.* HOST- an organism from what a parasite takes food or shelter.

SECTION 1 Summary: PROTISTS

-All protists are eukaryotic, and don;t have the specialized tissue that fungi, animals, plants, and bacteria do. Protists can be producers, which means that they use photosynthesis to make food, and some are heterotrtophs, which means that they use objects and animals around them to get food. Protists can reproduce sexually and asexually. Protists only reproduce sexually when the conditions around them are bad. Some protists, like Plasmodium vivax, depend on both humans and mosquito's.

PRETZAL SLIME MOLD: A TYPE OF PROTIST

A pretzal slime mold is a type a mold. It is a heterotroph, so it depends on the object it lives on for food.

SECTION 2 Vocabulary: KINDS OF PROTISTS

* ALGAE- eukaryotic organisms that convert the sins energy into food through photosynthesis but that don not have stems, roots, or leaves. * PHYTOPLANKTON- the microscopic, photosynthetic organisms that float near the surface of marine or freshwater.

SECTION 2 Summary: KINDS OF PROTISTS

- There are three types of protists; protist producers, heterotrophs that can move and heterotrophs that can't move. In the group protist producers, there are six types; red algae, green algae, brown algae, diatoms, dinoflagellates, and euglenoids. All of these protists are producers ( they make their own food). Red algae are mostly made up of the world's seaweed. Most red algae live in tropical oceans. Their cells contain chlorophyll, but the main pigment in their cells is red, which gives it their color. In the group heterotrophs that can move, there are four different types: amoebas, shelled amoeba-like protists, zooflagellates, and ciliates. Amoebas are soft,jelly like protozoans that are found in both fresh and salt water, in soil ana in animals as parasites. Although Amoebas look like blobs of goo, they are highly structured cells thar have contractile vacuoles to get rid of excess water and to capture food. The last group, heterotrophs that can't move, there are three types, spore-forming protists, water molds and slime molds. A slime mold are heterotrphic protists that can move in certain phases of their life cycle and look like thin, colorful, shapeless globs of slime. Slime molds usually reproduce asexually, hewever when environmental conditions are stressful, they reproduce sexually, using spores.

GREEN ALGAE

This is a picture of a type of green algae, a protist producer.

SECTION 3 Vocabulary: FUNGI

* FUNGUS- an organism whose cells have nuclei, rigid cell walls, and no chlorophyll, and that belongs to the kingdom Fungi.* HYPHA- a nonreproductive filament of a fungus.* MYCELIUM- the mass of fungal filaments, or haphae, that forms the body of a fungus. * SPORE- a reproductive cell or multicellular structure that is resistant to stressful environmental conditions and that develop into an adult without fusing with another cell.* MOLD- a fungus that looks like wool or cotton. * LICHEN- a mass of fungal and algae cells that grow together in a symbiotic relationship and that are usually found on trees or rocks.

SECTION 3 Summary: FUNGI - Fungi are heterotohic organism with rigid cell walls and no chlorophyll, and have nucei in their cells. Fungi are heterotrophs, but they cannot catch or surround their food, they must live on or near their prey in order to get the nutrients they need from it. Fungi get these nutrients by secreting digestive juices onto a food source and then aborbing the dissolved nutrients. Some fungi live in mutalism with other organisms. For example, many types of fungi live in or on the roots of a plant. The plant provides the nutrients that the fungus needs, and the fungus helps the root absorb minerals and protects the plant from some disease causing organisms. Many celled fungi are made up of chained cells called hypae. These hyphae have openings in their cell walls that allow the cytoplasm to move freely between cells. Fungi reproduce both sexually and asexually. Fungus can reproduce asexually in two ways. One way is that the hyphae split apart and each new peice becomes a new fungus. Another way is using spores. Spores are light and can easily be lifted up by wind and when the growing conditions are right the spore grows into a new fungus. Fungus reproduce sexually when special structures form to make sex cells. The sex cells join and grow into a new fungus. There are four different types of funfus: threadlike fungi, sac fungi, club fingi, and imperfect fungi. One type of threadlike fungi is a mold. Molds are usually fuzzy and soft, but they are parasites. Different types of sac fungi are yeasts, powdery mildews, truffles, and morels. Yeasts are used to make bread and alchohol. Truffles and morels are prize foods at markets all over the world. Club fungi can be mushrooms or they can't be mushrooms. The club fungi that aren't mushrooms are brackets, smuts, and rusts. Imperfect fungi can be useful or they can harm you. One kind of harmful imperfect fungi are aflatoxin, which can cause cancer. One kind of useful imperfect fungi is penicillium, which is the source of the antibiotic penicillin. A lichen is another type of fungus. Lichen's are a combination of fungus and alga, and are producers.

HYPHAE

This is a picture of the hypae that live underground. Hyphae are chained cells that have openings in their cells so that cytoplasm can move freely between cells.